Movie · 1988 · Drama, Romance · 1h 59m · R · English
Curator score: 7.0/10 (141.9K ratings)
Lust. Seduction. Revenge. The game as you've never seen it played before.
Overview
In 18th century France, Marquise de Merteuil asks her ex-lover Vicomte de Valmont to seduce the future wife of another ex-lover of hers in return for one last night with her. Yet things don’t go as planned.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.0/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Letterboxd: 3.78/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Metacritic: 74
TMDB: 7.2/10
Director
Stephen Frears
Production
Lorimar Film Entertainment, NFH Films, Warner Bros. Pictures
Cast
Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman, Swoosie Kurtz, Keanu Reeves, Mildred Natwick, Peter Capaldi, Joe Sheridan, Valerie Gogan, Laura Benson, Joanna Pavlis, Nicholas Hawtrey, Paulo Abel Do Nascimento, François Lalande, François Montagut, Harry Jones, Christian Erickson, Catherine Cauwet
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, vicious period drama where seduction is treated like warfare. The performances, costumes, and icy control make it a standout adaptation of aristocratic cruelty and sexual manipulation.
Best for
fans of elegant but mean-spirited period dramas
viewers who like psychological games and moral rot
people drawn to strong ensemble acting and costume design
audiences who enjoy prestige adaptations of classic literature
Skip if
you want sympathetic characters or emotional warmth
you dislike manipulation, cruelty, and sexual scheming
you prefer fast-paced plots over dialogue-driven intrigue
you are not in the mood for ornate historical drama
Overview
Dangerous Liaisons is all silk, poison, and perfect manners. Stephen Frears turns an 18th-century scandal machine into a cold-blooded chess match, where every flirtation is a tactic and every confession is a trap. The film’s pleasure comes from watching beautiful people behave appallingly with total conviction.
Worth noting
Glenn Close is ferocious, controlled, and terrifyingly funny, while John Malkovich leans into a slippery, unsettling charisma that makes the whole game feel unstable. Michelle Pfeiffer gives the movie its emotional center, and the production design and costumes create a world that feels decadent even when it is suffocating.
Bottom line
What lingers is not romance but the cost of treating intimacy as sport. The film is lush and polished, yet its emotional temperature is glacial, which is exactly why it works. If you like your period dramas with venom in the champagne, this is essential viewing.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Caroline (5★) · 2358 likes
I love movies where everyone is shitty and no one has a job five stars
fran hoepfner (4★) · 1442 likes
yet another great entry in what is increasingly becoming my favorite type of movie: niche prank war gone too far
Ariel Gardner (4★) · 1042 likes
It would seem the intentions of these characters are cruel
alex (4★) · 904 likes
a sexualized john malkovich is making my brain go on the fritz
nathan (3★) · 829 likes
the gowns? beautiful! the liaisons? dangerous! glenn? close.
1999 · Drama, Romance · 1h 37m · R · Curator 1.3/10 (3.6K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A modernized, glossy cousin in spirit: manipulation, seduction, and social games turned into teen melodrama.
Topics
period drama, psychological drama, erotic tension, costume design, 18th century, revenge plot, class privilege, court intrigue, moral decay, literary adaptation